Film industry

This video from Mark Vargo pretty much sums up the question, “So what the hell does a Grip do anyway?” On his Vimeo page, he says, “Part tutorial, part love letter – this video represents my take on the importance of the grip department. No grips, no Oscar nomination. Film schools don’t spend enough time on the essentials of gripping and for the life of me I don’t know why! Grips provide literally 1/2 of the lighting on stage and sometimes 100% of the lighting outdoors! You cannot learn how to shoot without some knowledge of “cutting” light. Hopefully this video will help you approach your lighting plan differently in the future.” Excellent job, Mark! Great video! MARK VARGO IMDb

Major rumors are swirling about the NC Film Crew. Apparently, they deserve kudos and candy canes. The locations department of Sleepy Hollow decided to give back this year to complete strangers. They took donations from the hundreds of crew members working on Sleepy Hollow, every department, and together they raised $1000! They headed to Toys R Us and played Secret Santa, secretly paying off 18 layaway plans at the toy store. I called the production office for confirmation. As an added bonus, the store manager informed one of the crew members that Toys R Us is also going to make a matching donation to Toys For Tots! Now if that doesn’t inspire you to pay it forward, dunno what will!

The ratings for last night’s episode of Sleepy Hollow will come out later today – I will give you the full report in a separate blog on how The Golem performed. The Sleepyheads are running two units, both filming on the lot today.

Cutie Pie, Hunter, with Wilm on Film, released the Under the Dome dates. Looks like they will open offices on January and production will begin in March. And for the record, give some kudos to Hunter. He is a lot like me, underpaid, an army of one and collecting a lot of great production news. Ha! You go boy!

Reminder: I know I’ve talked about this a lot, but it has been a while. If you got a really cool or interesting property, and think it would be a great location for film, contact the Wilmington Film Commission at (910) 343-3456 or commish@wilmingtonfilm.com. Properties can be anything from a large lot, warehouse, barn to a farm, restaurant, shop, or simply your house.

Don’t be confused, yes there is a second petition for you to sign. They decided we should have a petition that focused strictly on ending the sunset. I agree, so yes you have one more petition to sign, but as you know it only takes 20 seconds or less to do so! SIGN PETITION NOW!

Encore is doing the “Best of” issue again and I sure would LOVE YOU if you voted for The Wilmywood Daily for “BEST BLOG!” Nominations end December 12th! And hey if you wanna nominate Sheila Brothers for “Best Local Radio Personality,” I won’t mind that either! Ha! But hey, yes indeed, it is not all about me or the blog, make sure you vote for “Favorite Filmmaker” whoever you love here in Wilmywood. We got a lot of incredible local filmmakers in this town! They are all on page 3 under “arts, entertainment and media.”VOTE NOW!

Shop the Wilmywood T-shirt Shop! Deadline for orders to arrive before Christmas is set for December 13. 3 DAYS LEFT!SHOP NOW!

That just about does it for me; I will have more Wilmywood updates for you tomorrow morning (unless something breaks) and every weekday morning we do “What’s Up in Wilmywood” at 7:30am & 8:30am LIVE on Sunny 104.5. Got Scoop? Email me: sheila_brothers@yahoo.com. Or message me on Wilmywood’s FB . You can also just post your comments below! Until then, that’s a wrap!!

“Most of the crew comes from out of State anyway. Sad to hear it though cause if NHC loses that amount money, taxes will probably go up….AGAIN!”

Out of state? As ridiculous as that seems to you, it just goes to show you how many people are misinformed in North Carolina. But hey, that’s what we who support the NC Film industry are here for, to educate the public, right?

I will let you answer this question. Let’s start off with the NC Film Production Alliancewho has heard similar notions. Here’s what they say about that on their facebook page:

“Some people believe North Carolina’s film industry only supports temporary workers and movie stars. However, the film industry is responsible for thousands of permanent jobs for North Carolinians. There are thousands of skilled workers and crew members living and working across the state, and the film industry creates a revenue source for other North Carolina industries such as tourism, construction, and hospitality.”

Folks on Facebook tackled this misnomer as well. Elizabeth has been hearing this for almost 25 years in the business:

“They think we’re gypsies and move around to wherever the work is. Or that we’re from LA. Someone even told me that they always thought the studio on 23rd St was a photography studio! Or more likely they didn’t know about it at all. I always do my best to tell them that we’re local, own houses, pay taxes,shop, and have kids in school here. We WANT to be here, but if the work leaves, many WILL follow it to GA, SC, or wherever because our crews have experience they can’t get in those places.”

Yvonne’s been in a film family for more than two decades. She says:

“Films, made-for-TV-movies and TV shows bring in some key people (just like the corporations who come here) and fill the majority of the crew spots with the people you go to church with, whose kids sit next to yours at school and who live right down the street from you. A strong crew base chooses to live in Wilmington because of the community. They pay taxes and spend their paychecks in local stores just like UNCW, NHHN, GE or Corning employers (the other large employers in this area).”

There ya have it. We’ve had other questions and misnomers come in about the NC Film incentives as well as production.

The opportunity to voice your idea and concerns about the North Carolina Film Industry is coming on Monday, December 2. The state secretary of commerce Sharon Decker will be in Wilmington to hear your stories of the impact film has had on our lives. She wants to take those stories back with her Raleigh. Joiingr her will be senior advisor Tony Almeida.Aaron Syrett from the NC Film Office will be in the audience. You are invited to attend the The 2013 Listening Tour session BUT YOU MUST REGISTER BY THIS FRIDAY!

It will take place 1:30-4:30 p.m. in the Windell Daniels Hall (fifth floor) at Cape Fear Community College’s Union Station, 502 N. Front St.

So who exactly is Sharon Decker? Sharon Decker is our NC Secretary of Commerce, and has been an outspoken proponent of the NC film industry since she started in that role. Do you remember when IM 3 did the crew shows in Wilmington? She was there that night and introduced the film and briefly spoke to the house.

So, ALL NC CREW, VENDORS and SUPPORTERS, come out and tell Sharon THANK YOU for her support of NC film and share why the incentive is important to you.

ANSWER: Ya know, if you would have asked this question 10 years ago, we would have said, we don’t because it was more about North Carolina’s array of locations, crew members, and infrastructure that attracted the productions. Now instead of producers, directors and/or location scouts coming to the area, the studios send accountants first. Hollywood producers now instruct accountants to draw up budgets for several possible states and make decisions on the economic impact on their production, not the locations.

North Carolina for years was the third largest movie making state behind CA and NY. However in the past decade, the film industry has become a global economic driver. We are now competing with not just other countries, but a majority of the states that have seen NC flourish and want a piece of the action. Other governors and state legislators acted in response when they saw the jobs and the economic impact. Let’s take Georgia, for example. In two years Georgia’s state economy will have reaped the benefits of 7 billion dollars in direct spending from the film industry, which by the way took North Carolina almost 30 years to do. So if North Carolina had no incentives, then North Carolina just couldn’t compete with the other 43 states for those jobs and economic stimulus. “Show Business” is just that, a business. Could all 44 states that are participating be wrong?

There is a brand new web site that has just launched their Call to Action campaign for those who wish to keep NC Film alive. On the web site you will find every legislator for every county in North Carolina. They are a collaboration of all walks of life who support the North Carolina Film Industry. Crew members, vendors, local restaurant and business owners. What will it mean to you if the film industry leaves? Check it out, it’s a great grassroots campaign and if you love NC Film and want to end the sunset indefinitely, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!

Based on the press release sent out by the NC Film office, out NC Film Industry remains strong! ( :::::SHOUTING AT TOP OF LUNGS:::: Are you PAYING ATTENTION politicians? Sorry, you know I had to do that.)

Six months into 2013, the North Carolina Film Office reports a production tally of $250 million in direct in-state spending and 25,000 job opportunities for North Carolinians. As of July 1, more than 35 productions had filed “intent to film” forms indicating that they have filmed or will film in the Tar Heel State. The resulting activity accounts for more than 4,300 production days spread across at least 30 counties. The job opportunities include more than 3,000 crew positions for the state’s highly skilled film professionals, 1,000 well-paying talent.

The extras casting director has been named for the Hallmark Movie, Christmas In Conway. Congrats to Emily Young of Taboma Casting, more details to come within the next two weeks. Production begins August 5th.

The Perfect Summer premieres Saturday and Sunday night on the Up Network at 7pm, 9pm & 11pm. Up is on Time Warner Cable channel 283. Sydney Penny who stars in the flick along with Eric Roberts joined us in the studio. LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW NOW. Tony Silvagni, who was Eric Robert’s surf double in the film is going to miss the private premiere party, but for good reason. He is being honored tomorrow night at the Pipeline to a Cure which benefit’s the Cyctis Fibrosis Foundation.

Here’s our Under the Dome Promo of the Week:

Under the Dome is breaking records all around the world, this time in Canada. The show annihilates the competition and broke a Canadian summertime record. Coming out of Toronto, Global TV stated that the show garnered nearly 2.6 million confirmed viewers, making it Canada’s #1 summer drama premiere of the past decade. Ready for season 2? Um…YEAH! The folks are staying under cover from the rain shooting at Screen Gems Studios today. Eastbound and Down heads back to Masonboro Sound Rd.

That just about does it for me; I will have more Wilmywood updates for you tomorrow morning and every weekday morning at 7:30am & 8:30am LIVE on Sunny 104.5. Got Scoop? Email me: sheila@1045sunnyfm.com. Or message me on Wilmywood’s FB . Or just post your comments below! Until then, that’s a wrap!